


Tortoises Can't Swim

by DrarryDealers



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol, Beaches, Brazil, Christmas Fluff, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Light Angst, M/M, New Years, Not Epilogue Compliant, Original Character(s), Portkeys, Sassy Draco Malfoy, Turtles or tortoises, international portkey trip, luna as mutual friend, very sassy indeed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrarryDealers/pseuds/DrarryDealers
Summary: Since Draco and Harry are both heading to Romania for Christmas and the Portkey Department is a chaos, they’re forced to share a portkey. It shouldn’t be a problem, except they end up on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. So while they wait for a new portkey in a paradisiac beach, they have a lot of free time to learn about themselves, each other and tortoises.That is, of course, if they can manage not to kill each other.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 5
Kudos: 78
Collections: Harry/Draco Owlpost 2019





	Tortoises Can't Swim

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MalenkayaCherepakha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalenkayaCherepakha/gifts).



> Dear Malenkaya, I was having some trouble organizing your prompts into one idea, but when I read in your wishlist that tortoises were your favorite animal, everything kinda came together. I’m so sorry though that there aren’t real tortoises here, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. I'm actually really proud cause this is the biggest work I've ever written, so I hope you have fun reading it. Merry christmas!  
> -Luz

It was pouring, to say the least. Harry woke up, startled by the sound of thunderbolts outside his window. He turned to his left, rubbing his face, to check the time, only to find out that it was currently 7am and he was late. Again. He thought that surely his day couldn’t get worse.

He threw the covers to the end of the bed and got up, contemplating whether or not he had time to shower. No, he didn’t, it was either that or coffee, and he definitely couldn’t survive without caffeine. He dressed up as quickly as he could in last night’s jeans and tshirt, picked up his travel bag from where he had thrown it last night and went to his kitchen. 

He opened one of his cabinets, looking for the coffee bag that he was sure was there, only to find the cabinet pretty much empty. Right, he’d run out of coffee yesterday.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” He closed the cabinet, a little more harshly than necessary, if he was being honest with himself, and exited the kitchen.

 _How long am I supposed to survive without coffee?_ , he thought, picking up his bag yet again and apparating to the portkey office.

Harry cursed to himself when he arrived there and saw how many people were in line to get a portkey. December 24th was most probably the worst day to travel by portkey, so, obviously, it was the day he’d chosen to do it. He honestly had half a mind to just turn around and go back home, but he’d promised the Weasleys that he’d show up.

For what was probably the first time since his school years, the Burrow would be completely silent on Christmas day. Charlie had to stay in Romania - one of the dragons had fallen sick and he didn’t want to leave the country, in case he was needed. And that’s the reason why Molly Weasley had got the whole family to pack up and go spend Christmas in Romania. She had floo-called Harry a few days later telling him about the plans, insisting he _must be present. Honestly, dear, it’s not Christmas without you there as well._ So he’d promised her he’d be there, because there was no way you could say no to Molly.

A good half an hour later he was impatient, sleepy and incredibly moody. Thankfully, though, he was next in line. He scratched his neck, trying to stretch the muscles in his arms, thanking Merlin and Morgana when it was _finally_ his turn.

“Good morning. I’m Harry Potter, I have a portkey to Romania.” He said, dropping his bag by his feet.

“Hello, Mr. Potter. We’re very sorry for the delay, but today’s been chaotic so far. There’s a terrible storm all over London and we’re trying to use as little portkeys as possible. Since there are so many people travelling today, given the storm, we wouldn’t be able to keep track of everyone if you all travelled separately. There’s another person going to Romania, he arrived an hour ago and we asked him to wait for you, so you could both share a portkey. Would that be okay with you?”

“Yes, that’s totally fine, I understand.” He answered.

“Thank you so much,” she said, obviously relieved he didn’t put up a fight, “here is your portkey, it’ll go off in five minutes. The person you’re sharing your portkey with is that gentleman over there,” she pointed to a man who had his back turned, head low while reading the newspaper, “the blond one.”

“Alright. Thank you, have a good day.”

“You too, Mr. Potter.” He picked up his bag, holding the portkey with the other hand and made his way to the man she had pointed to.

“Good mo-” he started, stopping harshly when the man turned his head around, “oh for fuck’s sake, not you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Potter,” he answered, a sarcastic smile on his face, “nice to know you’re as pleasant as you always were. What the hell do you want?”

“Are you travelling to Romania?” Harry asked, ignoring the insults.

“Although that’s none of your business, yes, I am. That is, of course, if these people manage to give me my portkey _today_.” He rolled the newspaper up, turning to face Harry completely.

“ _ Actually _ , it is my business”

“How come?”

“We’re sharing the portkey to get there.” 

“Oh no, no way. That’s not happening. See, I don’t mind waiting a couple of minutes, but _one hour_ is just bullshit, and now the person they asked me to share it with is _you_? Is this a joke?” he said, the smile gone from his face.

“Listen, I’m going to use this portkey whether you come with or not. Do you actually want to go back in line? Have you seen how many people are there?” Which, if Draco was being fair, was kind of true. There were hundreds of people waiting in line, not to mention the baby that had been crying for the last ten minutes. You see, Draco was a morning person, but not if there was a crying baby involved. He found himself nodding to Potter, getting up and picking up his own bag.

“Okay, you might have a point.”

“Might?”

“Merlin, Potter, do you want me to kneel and say _oh great saviour, you’re always right, what a bright mind you have_? Yes you’re right, for fuck’s sake. Let’s just go, shall we?”

“Yes, let’s go.” he took a step back and almost tripped over his own feet. “Could this day get any worse?”, he muttered to himself.

“Honestly, given the fact that you’re involved, it might, actually.” Draco answered, bitterly.

“Fuck off.” Harry extended his hand for Draco, and soon they were being taken to Romania - or so they thought.

******

Harry would soon realise that yes, that day could indeed get much incredibly worse.

“Hm, were we supposed to land on a beach?” he looked over and saw Draco watching him with wide eyes, “And why is this so dark?”

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Draco was frantically looking around himself, “Potter, this is not, in any way, Romania.”

“Wait, what?”

“Are you actually that dense? Romania might have beaches and it might be a couple of hours ahead of Britain, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be this hot in fucking december nor this dark at ten in the morning” Only then Harry took notice of the fact that he was actually feeling his whole body heat up. By then, Draco had already dressed off his coat and was in the middle of taking out his wool sweater.

Harry got stuck staring at him, his pale torso a contrast to his dark jeans. He gulped and when he looked up Draco was staring at him. “Are you trying to die in this heat? What the fuck, Potter, take off your clothes before you die of a heat stroke.” Harry’s mind seemed to start functioning again.

“I wasn’t staring.” he answered, taking off his own clothes.

“Sure you weren’t.” And if Harry was blushing, it was just the heat.

They walked up the beach, reaching the empty street with almost no lights. 

“Where the hell are we?” Draco asked for the fifth time, and Harry could tell he was freaking out.

“If I knew the answer to that, I’d’ve told you the first time you asked.”

“Don’t play with me now, Potter!”

“Believe me, I’m not.”

But Malfoy didn’t even hear him, he just crossed the street and walked to the only house on the street that had the lights on. It looked like a small inn. Draco opened the door without even looking to see if Harry was behind him, and got in without holding it for him. Potter sighed. Out of all the people he could have got into this mess with, did it really have to be Malfoy?

“Hello?” The blond asked to the empty hall “is someone here?”

The place seemed cozy. The walls were painted in a faded tone of orange, there were a sofa and an armchair next to the window, some magazines on the center table, spiral stairs on the right that lead to another floor, a corridor next to them and a bookshelf behind the front desk. Harry tried to read the titles but he didn’t understand the language. A big Christmas tree was next to the door, decorated with a lot of ornaments and lights. 

“Hello?!” Draco screamed louder.

“Malfoy, shut up! It’s the middle of the night, people are probably sleeping.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up. You shut up!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Malfoy, can you be even more childish?”

But before the blond could answer they heard steps coming from the corridor. A small chubby lady showed up barefoot in a yellow sleep robe. She had her curly hair up on a knot at the top of her head and marks of age on her face. She looked like she had just woken up from a nap, but opened a very welcoming smile. 

“Ah, desculpa, eu estava esperando por vocês, mas caí no sono sem querer, sabe como é, estou acostumada a dormir cedo.” She said getting herself behind the desk and turning on the computer, she put her glasses on to look at the screen.

“I’m sorry?” Draco asked getting closer to her desk. 

“Oh, that’s right! Sorry! Your guide from the travel agency did tell me you didn’t speak portuguese.”

“Portuguese?”

“Oh, it’s right here, Jackson and Ellen Johanson.” She then looked at them for a moment, took her glasses off, put her glasses on and looked at the screen again. “Are you the ones that had a reservation for tonight?”

Draco and Harry exchanged a look.

“Yes, we are.” They answered, figuring it was better to apologize later than ask questions now.

“Well, this is just not what I was expecting… Care to tell me, which one of you is Mrs. Ellen?”

“He is!” Draco said, petting Harry’s back, “Mr. Ellen, actually. I know, the name… Well, don’t mention it, his parents wanted a girl.”

Harry took a deep, deep breath and stayed silent, focusing instead on the different creative ways he could come up with to kill Malfoy. 

“Ah, I see!” The lady laughed, “I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding. But everything seems to be okay here, please follow me, I’ll show you to your room.”

Draco got his bag and followed the lady upstairs, leaving Harry behind again. Seriously, did it really have to be Malfoy he got stuck with?

“Your travel agency paid for everything already, and they asked me to stay up to welcome you because you’d be getting here in strange hours. I honestly don’t know how, our buses don’t get here for another 5 hours, but well, I was told not to ask questions. Well, alright, here we are,” she said, opening the second door on the left once they got to the second floor hallway, and giving Draco the key, “there’s a paper with all the information you’ll need on the table, breakfast starts at seven and goes until eleven, then lunch at noon, then dinner at seven. The closest beach is right in front of the inn.”

“Thank you,” said Draco, dropping his bag on the bed, “you wouldn’t happen to have an owlery around here, would you?”

“An owlery?” 

“Nevermind him!” Said Harry, getting in the middle of them “Can I use your phone?”

“Of course, dear, it’s right on the bedside table. Anything else I can help you with?”

“No, that’ll be all. Thank you!”

“Oh, no problem, if you need anything you can call me. It’s Patricia, by the way, my name, but you can call me Patty. Have a good night!”

She closed the door behind her and the boys waited until they couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore. 

“I think we got the wrong portkey.” 

“Oh you figured, Potter? I didn’t reckon you were capable of such brightness!”

“Shut it, Malfoy. I’m trying to help,” he said, sitting on the bed and getting on the phone.

“Help?! We are in a muggle town, in another hemisphere, with no floo, no owls, no way to contact the Ministry, in a room which has only one fucking bed, in an inn with a muggle lady that didn’t even mind to check who we really are, how safe could that be? We don’t even know where we are!”

“We’re in Brazil.”

“What?”

“Brazil. Here.” Harry gave him the paper the lady mentioned before, with all the inn’s information such as name, address and meals schedules.

“What the fuck?” Malfoy cried, sitting next to him staring at the paper. “And what the fuck are you doing, Potter? Calling the Minister?”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m calling Hermione.”

  
  


Draco could not believe a day that started so well could have turned so badly so quickly. 

He went to the bathroom while Potter spoke with Granger on that muggle device, closed the door and took the deepest breath he could. He faced his reflection in the mirror thinking how he would explain to his boss that he was late for his first day for a job he fought so much to get. Not that he really wanted it, though, no, if he could choose he’d take something in Britain that paid a lot better, but who in their right consciousness would hire a former Death Eater? Certainly no one except for Rolf Scamander who needed someone to assist him during his researchers in Romania. The perks of becoming friends with Luna Lovegood and her contacts. Honestly, what was he thinking? Obviously something had to go wrong: a good job in his field in a different country with absolutely no one that knew him around, asking him to start immediately at Christmas eve, how could it _not_ go wrong?

By the time he got his head in place and went back to the room, Potter had hung up and was lying comfortably on the bed. He had taken his shoes off revealing a pair of socks that didn’t match, and how could Draco had not noticed before how thigh his jeans were? Mostly around the waist, wow. And he had one arm up to cover his eyes from the light on the ceiling, which brought his shirt up a little. Draco wondered if he still had those abs from the time he played quidditch at school… 

“I can feel you staring at me” Potter said bringing Malfoy out of his thoughts.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Is there someone else here?” Harry took his arm from his eyes and sat up. He wasn’t wearing his glasses so Malfoy doubted he could actually prove there wasn’t anyone else there, but at the same time he was surprised at the brightness of the green eyes. The glasses really did hide it. 

“What did Granger say?”

“She’ll have the Ministry owl us with a new portkey. She said they probably just mixed it up because Christmas days are always very chaotic”

“Shocking. Who would have thought?”

“It’s not my fault, you know? I’d much rather not be stuck here with you too, don’t you think I had somewhere else better to be?”

“Sure, Potter, of course you are needed somewhere else.”

“At least I’m trying to do something about it. The least you can do is not be a prat.”

“Oh yes, I’m sorry, oh Great Savior, pardon me for not being incredibly grateful”

Potter covered his eyes again - not before rolling them - figuring he didn’t kill Voldemort for this. 

Malfoy wanted to leave that room but he didn’t know if he could. They were in a different country, in a muggle inn, in the middle of the night, what if wandering around was rude? What if he found a muggle at the hallway, what should he say? Also the streets, what if he got lost? It was just too much to risk. So he wandered on the room. 

There were one bedside table in each side of the double bed, a small closet with a place he thought it was designed to place his bag - so that’s what he did, there was also a television - which is a muggle device to watch pictures move, he knew, and a small desk. The walls were a faded shade of green and white curtains covered the whole wall. When he opened them he found the door to a lovely balcony with a set of white table with three chairs. He could see the beach from there, the place they arrived. The moon was full up in the starry sky, and its light shined on the calm waves breaking at the beach. Their sound was everything he could hear, as if they were the only ones awake on the whole city. Draco felt calm for a moment. 

And then he heard something ring. He came back to the room to see what was that horrible noise, but Potter was already on the phone. He had answered it the minute it rang as if he knew it was just about to. 

“Hey, Harry, I have bad news. I owled the Department of Portkeys and they don’t have another one to send you until after New Year.”

“Are you serious, Hermione?” Potter said

“Very much so. I’m sorry, I talked to everybody I know that could help”

“I can’t be stuck here until New year, it’ll be a nightmare!”

“New Year?!” Malfoy walking to his front, very nervous

“A nightmare, Hermione” Harry repeated

“I know, I’m sorry. They said they mixed up the portkeys, somebody must have misplaced them. You were given a portkey destined to a couple on their honeymoon.”

“Potter, what is going on? What did they say?” Harry waved a hand at Malfoy’s complaints, as to shut him up.

“The bright side is” Hermione continued, also ignoring Malfoy “the couple won’t be able to get to their reservations either, so you guys might as well use it”

“Oh, how terrific!” Harry said sarcastically.

“What’s terrific?” Draco asked again, getting unseasy.

“Shut it, Malfoy. So, Hermione, we’re at their inn?”

“Yea, the address you gave me adds up. I guess the portkey was supposed to leave you just up front. So, anyway, the wizards booked their trip with one of those Muggle Agencies I told you and Ron about the other day, you remember?”

“Hmm…”

“Oh Harry, why don’t you ever listen to me?” Hermione asked, sighing, “They book a whole trip in the muggle world for the wizards and a muggle person is told to bring them around, so the wizards won’t have to get around by themselves and risk the Statute of Secrecy. You’ll probably have a list of activities tomorrow.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m sorry, Harry… Molly’s very uneasy. She says Christmas won’t be the same without you. And Teddy is sending lots of kisses and hugs.”

“Oh I still have his gift with me! And no way to send it to him.”

“You can get it to him when you get here, it’ll be no problem.” Hermione tried her reassuring voice, but Harry sighed, rushing his hand through his hair.

“Yea, okay, Mione, thanks anyway.”

“I’ll keep trying to get you guys a portkey. In the meantime, you must really just try to pretend you are the ones who booked the trip and don’t break the Statute of Secrecy, and.. I mean, you’re in Brazil, try to enjoy it”

“Enjoy a trip to Búzios, Brazil with Malfoy?”

“Why are you supposed to enjoy anything? Potter, what’s going on?”

“I know, Harry, I know, just…” Hermione sighed “Don’t kill him.”

“I can’t promise anything” Harry rolled his eyes, Draco still signing to him “Thanks, Mione. Bye now.”

“What did she said? Are they sending a new portkey?”

“Not until New Year, they’re all booked.”

“How come they’re booked?! Do they know who they’re talking to? Aren’t you supposed to have privileges?”

“Hermione says she’s doing everything she can. She has a better status on the Ministry than I do, so if she can’t pull something out I certainly can’t.”

“You saved the world!”

“And now the Ministry seems to think that I can enjoy some little vacation in Brazil. I’m not happy either, Malfoy, but that’s how it is.”

“Fuck.” Malfoy turned from him running his hands through his hair. Harry thought he never saw it this messy, Malfoy always had a very big concern about his hair, but it looked prettier like that. Not that he was pretty at all. No, that was not at all what Harry was thinking. The brunette took a deep breath and layed back on the bed, closing his eyes.

“Are you going to sleep?!” Honestly, that was everything Draco needed right now, to have Potter not giving a fuck about their situation

“I woke up early, I’m sleep deprived”

“It’s ten fucking a.m.!”

“It’s actually five a.m.” Harry grambled and turned to his side to point at the digital clock on the bedside table “Wake me up when it’s noon.”

“In England or Brasil?” 

“You choose.”

Malfoy huffled, thinking that, if this was what his christmas was going to be like, he might as well take advantage of it. Brazil was always on the Witches Weekly’s lists of most beautiful countries to visit, after all, it couldn’t be too bad. So he got one of his books and went back to the balcony to read. He made himself comfortable in one of the chairs and used his wand for light, until the first sun rays came up.

****** 

A couple of hours later - at noon in England time, for what it’s worth -, Harry woke up, his face swollen from sleep. 

“Finally, breakfast started one hour ago!” Draco said, closing his book when Potter showed up at the balcony.

“You were waiting for me?”

“I don’t know my way around muggles. Don’t be flattered. C’mon, I’m starving, it’s lunch time!”

“It’s actually breakfast time.”

“Give it a break, Potter.”

The inn’s restaurant was full when they got there, but they could find a table to sit. There were three big long tables at the center of the salon: one with a coffee machine, a teapot and four different types of juice, one with different kinds of breads, options of ham, cheese and preserves, and different fruits arranged on a plate, and the last table had a guy with a stove and lots of plates with different things in it. 

“What is all that?” 

“Breakfast, I guess.”

“Do they really need six types of bread? Oh, Merlin, is all of that fruit? And what is _that_?” Malfoy looked at a woman’s plate, she was eating some kind of white dough with a red filling. It looked delicious! Harry tried not to laugh at Malfoy’s excitement, but he was curious himself. So they approached the cook behind the third table.

“Good morning,” Harry said

“Good morning, sir, how may I help you?”

“What is that on that lady’s plate?” Harry turned to point at the woman Draco mentioned early.

The blond slapped his arm “Potter, it’s rude to point!”

“That’s tapioca, I think that one is of raspberry preserve.”

“What’s tapioca?”

“It’s a type of flour that comes from a plant called mandioca. It’s pretty much the food base of indigenous people, it’s very popular around here. Do you want one?”

“Yea, sure!,” said Harry, excited.

“What do you want to fill it with?”

“Hm, cheese is fine”

“Can I put on some tomatoes too? And oregano? I promise it’ll taste good”

“Sure, you’re the chef.”

“And for you, sir?” he asked Draco.

“Oh I’ll have the raspberry one” The man nodded at them and got to work. 

“I wouldn’t take you for eating sweets at lunchtime.”

“Oh, it’s still breakfast, haven’t you heard?” The blond said with a smirk.

Tapioca was delicious! Draco even had a second help, this time a tapioca with chocolate and bananas. Who would have thought? The cook also told them about how many different dishes they could make with that flour, and how many, many more they could make with the plant it came from: fried mandioca, vaca atolada, mandioca cake, mashed mandioca, mandioca pudin... Draco was astonished. 

Harry, though, had ventured into the fruits. He had never tried most of them - kiwi, jabuticaba, passion fruit, siriguela, papaya, goiaba, carambola, but they all tasted great, ones more sweet than others. He also liked the feeling of looking more healthy than Draco did at the moment, he didn’t quite know why, maybe it was just that old intrigue they had. The thing is that he was already on his second cup of coffee - and thank Merlin for that because he wouldn’t be physically able to go through this day without it -, and having it with fruits disgusted Draco more than the idea of having chocolate for breakfast.

When they were leaving the dining hall - after saying “thanks” and “see you later” to the cook - to spend the day at their room, preferably not talking to each other, Mrs. Patty showed up by their door. She said she was very sorry from not finding them sooner because she got busy with other guests, but she was now free to take them to the beach, if they were ready.

“To the beach?”

“Oh, you’ll love it! It’s right in front of the inn, I’ve mentioned it, and it’s beautiful. The waves here are not too strong.”

“We have to change first,” Harry said, only now realizing they probably looked so foreign with their clothes.

“Oh of course, I’ll meet you right up front, okay? Don’t forget the sunscreen!” She then left them to talk to other guests. Draco considered Potter for a minute:

“Sunscreen. Of course we don’t have sunscreen. We’ll look like peppers tomorrow.” But, to Harry’s surprise, he didn’t complain any longer before going up to their room and transfigurating some of their clothes into swimsuits and summer outfits. He also remembered to summon some sunscreen and get his book before they went back down to have Mrs. Patty guide them to a beach umbrella marked with hearts on the sand a little further from the inn’s direction. Under it, there were two beach chairs with towels embroidered with the inn’s name. The sun was up in the sky, melting their skin and delighting all the other people around. Kids were building sand castles and playing happily in the water as if the sun wasn’t burning hot. 

“Alright, I should be back at lunch. Call if you need anything and have fun!” Mrs. Patty waved to them as she went back to the inn. 

“How are we supposed to call? We don’t even have muggle’s money. We don’t even have brazilian wizarding money!” Draco mumbled sitting down, he seemed stressed

“I have muggle money. I mean, England’s one, I’m sure we can find a place to exchange it.”

“How come you’re so calm about this whole situation?”

“I’m not, but Hermione asked me not to kill you” Harry shook his shoulders, getting his own sunscreen out of his pocket and taking his shirt off to start to put it on. Potter did still have those abs, by the way, but Draco wasn’t checking him out. No, that would be absurd. 

“Oh, I didn’t think she’d care”

“She’s probably just trying to avoid the amount of paperwork she’d need to get through to keep me out of Brazil’s Azkaban.”

Malfoy widen his eyes “Does Brazil have an Azkaban?”

“They must do. But hey, talking about jail, do you think that, since this trip is all paid for and all, if Mrs. Patty realizes we’re not actually who she thinks we are, we can get in trouble?”

“What? Do you think muggles will put you in time out?”

“I was thinking more like muggle prison”

“Do you think that can happen?” Draco’s voice sounded worried, and Harry found it funny, so he decided to play with him a little more.

“Yea, I suppose. I mean, muggles have laws about these things too, right? And I’ve seen muggle jails in movies - well, american movies, but how different can it be? And they’re awful, you know, dirty, full of bad people and mean cops.”

Malfoy pondered the idea for a minute “We should pretend we're a couple then, when there's people around, just in case."

Harry raised an eyebrow at him, not really believing he bought it, but figuring he could put on with the joke for a little longer. “Yea, okay,” he said, taking his shorts off and revealing his recently transfigurated swim briefs. “I’m gonna go for a swim.”

Malfoy meant to say ‘whatever’ but he couldn’t find his breath. Damn, Potter was _big_. It wasn’t that it brought images to Draco’s mind that he wasn’t ready to admit, it was just that it took him by surprise. That was all. So he opened his book, layed back on his chair and relaxed.

About an hour later Potter was back. His perfectly formed wet abs were shining beautifully under the sun’s light, his eyes squeezing probably too sensitive to the brightness of the day and his lips curved in the cutest smile Maloy’s had ever seen. Suddenly, the blond felt very hot. Harry leaned in under the umbrella to show Draco his hand full of small shells.

“Look at this one!” He picked one of them in his fingers “It’s so beautiful!”

It took Draco a second to manage to look him in the eye, instead of at his chest “Are you getting shells? How old are you?” 

“It’s for Teddy, he collects them whenever we go to the beach together,” which, if Draco was being honest with himself, was adorable, but he really wasn’t. Potter left the shells in the other chair and got one of the towels. He walked back to the sun to dry himself a little, facing his back at Draco. And Merlin, _that ass_. 

He wiped his suddenly very sweaty forehead. Merlin, Potter’s really hot. No, fuck, what was he thinking? Brazil is really hot. Not Potter. Potter’s an ass. A very round and nice one. “Jesus fucking Christ, what’s happening to me?” 

“What?” Potter asked turning to him.

“What?” 

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing. I said nothing.”

The gryffindor considered him for a second. “I’m going for a run.”

“Whatever.” And Draco was very proud of managing his comeback. 

  
  


By lunch time, somebody from the inn brought them a tray with fried fish and french fries. It was incredible. The fries were homemade and the fish was fresh. Harry had to admit that - may Molly never hear him - the food was totally worth their situation. Brazil’s culinary was exquisite so far. They also brought them two caipirinhas, and if Harry had to choose one drink to have for the rest of his life it would be it. It was a mix of cachaça, the most famous brazilian alcohol drink, with lemon and sugar. 

“So,” he started in order to make conversation, when they were almost done eating “why were you going to Romania?”

“That’s none of your business” Malfoy answered rudely, before taking a sip of his drink.

“Are you being paid to be a dick or you just can’t help it?” Harry’s tone had a bit of hurt in it, he couldn’t help it. He wanted to take it back, not the greatest food in the world would make dealing with Malfoy worthy. He loved the beach, he loved the food, and the idea of having a summer Christmas was cool, but he wanted to be with his family, to hug his godson and get his Weasley sweater. He didn’t want to be stuck in a foreign tropical country with Malfoy, the only person in the world that could make that experience unpleasant. And yet, he was trying not to make it worse. He figured that if they managed to, at least, not get in each other’s throats and maybe keep a civil conversation once in a while, they’d be able to keep to themselves and enjoy the beach until the Ministry could send them another portkey. But if Malfoy was going to be a prat just for the sake of it, he was going to aparate home and risk getting split. 

Malfoy sighed. “I got a job in Romania with Rolf Scamander. I haven’t been able to keep one for more than a couple of months before people decide I’m making their business lose clients. Even if I hide the Mark, people in London know my face. So this one I thought I’d be able to keep, it was a good opportunity. How ironic that I lost it before I even started. So forgive me, Potter,” he said, bitterly, “if I’m not in my best humour. I really needed it.”

“I was going to spend Christmas with the Weasleys,” Harry said after a minute because he couldn’t think of anything else to say after that. “We always have a big dinner at the Burrow, but this year Charlie couldn’t go home, so Molly decided we had to go to him.” 

The brunette waited for the sarcastic comments, but they didn’t come. Draco was concentrated on the lemons in his drink. They stayed like that for a while, and surprisingly enough it was not as bad as Harry thought it would. It wasn’t so hot under the beach umbrella, mostly now that the wind was blowing strong. The beach was full of people, someone always walked by them offering something to buy: a snack, a popsicle, a bracelet; kids were screaming and laughing loudly, and Harry could see a smile on everyone's faces. 

“So, Teddy is Andromeda Black’s grandchild, right? And he’s your godson?”

“Yea.” 

“He’s my cousin.”

“I know.”

“And you take him to the beach often?” 

“We always go a couple of times during the summer. He loves to build sandcastles and collect shells. Merlin, he’d love it here.”

“And what else does he like?” The question made Harry turn his head to the blond. To his surprise, Draco was already facing him, his curious eyes staring at him.

“He’s great. He loves to draw, he likes to change his hair colors to match the person he likes the most at the time - you know, he’s a metamorphmagus, and he’s passionate about quidditch! I’m giving him his first training broom for Christmas.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll love it.”

“Yea, I think so. He’ll turn five soon so I thought it was time. He’s very smart, he has the most fun laugh I’ve ever heard!” Harry didn’t notice himself smiling while talking, but Draco did. Draco noticed how caring he was. He didn’t need anything else to know Teddy was very loved and that made him admire Potter, but just a little bit. 

They managed to keep talking the whole afternoon, as strange as it sounds. About Quidditch teams, strategies and brooms, about Teddy, about the weather, and politics. They avoided Hogwarts and the war, even their friends, because then the chances of a fight would be bigger, so they talked like they had just met. It felt weird, keeping a conversation without insulting Potter, Draco had to admit. It was like they just had this wall of bitterness between them that made it easier to just throw insults at each other, but once they were able to talk, it just flowed. And it felt nice. 

They got their things and walked back to the inn a bit before sunset though, jet lag was starting to knock them out and the heat made them feel tired. But as soon as they got to the inn, they noticed the fuzz. A lot of people were coming and going from the kitchen to the restaurant, in and out of the building carrying chairs, tables and ice. Guests were coming back too and running up to their rooms talking excitedly. 

“Hey Mrs. Patty”

“Oh, hi, dear couple! How was your day?”

“It was fine. We were wondering if we could have some room service now? We’re tired, because of jet lag.” The woman raised an eyebrow at Potter and a smirk formed on her face 

“Tired, yes, a recently married couple, of course you’d want to go to bed early.” Mrs. Patty winked at them. Malfoy did his best to not cringe at her insinuations but Potter couldn’t help it “It’s just that it’s Christmas eve! You need to get ready and come back downstairs for dinner”

“Oh, will there be a party?” Potter said, enthusiastically.

“Of course! C’mon, you’ll have fun. Go get ready” She winked at them again and walked away, back to her duties. The boys exchanged a curious look, both wondering if going to the party was a good idea. Harry just shrugged and went upstairs, getting in the bathroom as soon as he got to the room, not checking to see if the blond followed. 

He took a long hot shower to get all of the sand out of his body. 

While Draco waited in the room, he made a few tries to compose a look for the party that was elegant but summerly. All his clothes were very thick and most of them were black. He had gloves, boots and cloaks made from fine materials that wouldn’t look as good if transfigurated. But it wasn’t like he had any other options. So he ended up turning a dark green sweater into a button-down shirt, and one of his flax pants into jeans.

The process took him so long, because he wanted it to look perfect, that he didn’t even complain about the amount of time Potter spent under the shower. By the time he got out, wearing nothing but a towel tied on his hips, for all it matters, Draco just got in and did his best to keep his mind from creating inappropriate scenarios in that room. If Brazilian heat was going to be an excuse to not wear shirts, they would have a problem.

The restaurant completely decorated now. The three big tables from breakfast were now just a long one, with so much food Harry made a mental note not to tell Molly because she would want to make it all for next year Christmas dinner. All the other tables were decorated with white tablecloths and a beautiful flower arrangement. The plates were also different from the plain white ones in which they had breakfast, these were decorated with thin gold lines on the border. All the windows and the doors had Christmas lights around them and a couple of garlands hung from the ceiling. Everything looked really beautiful.

People were moving through the salon, helping themselves to rice, potatoes, salads, turkey, chicken and fish. They had lots of options. Everybody was wearing fine clothes, most women were on high heels. Draco could see they have put effort on their looks and he thought it contrasted from him and Potter. 

Harry started preparing his plate because he was starving. He chose a little bit of everything, surprisingly less out of hunger and more out of curiosity. He was already in love with Brazilian culinary, so he figured nothing here could taste bad. And, honestly, he was right: The turkey was juicy, the codfish was very well spiced, the salad of arugula with mangos was a delightful surprise. 

“Did you taste this?” He asked showing Draco a piece of mango on his fork “It’s incredible”

“No, I’m not a big fan of arugula.” Malfoy had gotten a lot less food then Harry on his plate. He signed with his own fork to some kind of flour on his plate “But did you taste this? The label next to the dish said ‘farofa’ but I have no idea what it means. It’s great, though”

“I didn’t see it! Does it have bacon on it?”

“Yea! You should get some.” Draco said taking another bite. Potter, before he could stop himself or really think about it, took his fork to get some farofa out of the blond’s plate. 

Malfoy smacked his hand “What are you doing?!” 

“I...” But Potter didn’t really know. It was almost instinct, that was a common scenario with his friends. Not that Malfoy and him were friends.

“I don’t share my food, Potter” The blond brought his plate closer to him, as if protecting it. The gryffindor got up to get a second help and avoid the awkward moment. 

By midnight, they were both extremely tired of the silence they have been in, in order to avoid another awkward situation, and also extremely sleepy. But Mrs. Patty had made sure they stayed until midnight, because, traditionally, that’s when they shared presents. 

A lot of kids were spending Christmas at the inn with their families, and they all seemed to have become good friends. So when the clock hit midnight, the adults put on a show to make the kids believe Santa Claus had just came. Draco didn’t see how they did it, but when the kids opened the restaurant door, there were a bunch of colorful bags waiting for them. They brought it to the tree and sorted it out, announcing the names on the tags out loud. Harry was smiling at the scene, he clearly loved kids. 

A few other couples that were sitting in different tables, away from the families’ fuzz, took the time to exchange their own gifts, with passionate kisses and hugs. 

Potter started thinking of his own family, so far away now, of everybody putting their new Weasley sweaters on and getting ready for Ginny’s idea of the family picture. Molly would be going around making sure everybody had had enough to eat and filling their mugs with hot tea. Teddy would be fighting to stay awake, probably inviting Harry to play some more games, until he’d finally fall asleep on his arms while he talked to Ron and Hermione in low voices so they wouldn’t disturb him. It made him feel nostalgic and sad. 

“I think I’m going to sleep now,” he told Draco, who nodded and got up.

When they finally went upstairs to sleep, they came across another problem. 

“There’s only one bed.” 

“Very observant of you, Potter.” 

Harry rolled his eyes “How do you wanna do this?” 

“Do what?” 

“There’s only one bed, Malfoy! Can’t you see the problem here?”

“I honestly can’t. I’m gonna sleep on the bed, you can have the floor. It’s as simple as that.”

“I’m not sleeping on the floor! I had a long day at the beach, I’m tired.”

“Do I look like I care?”

“You sleep on the floor!”

“I will never.” Draco said sitting down on the bed, as if to make his point.

Harry smirked at him. “Fine.” And went on to the bathroom to brush his teeth and change into pajamas pants. He knew Malfoy would have to get up eventually but when he came back to the room, he was not at all surprised to see Draco at the exact same place. He made his way to close the balcony’s door and curtains, counting to see how long Draco would stand the idea of going to bed without brushing his teeth. He made it to seventeen. Potter couldn’t hold back a laugh when the blond murmured a “fuck it” and made his way to the bathroom. 

So then Harry left his glasses on the bedside table and jumped gladly on the bed. 

“Oh no, you better get up right now, Potter!” The slytherin said a minute later, his mouth full of toothpaste.

“No,” Harry murmured, already sleepy.

“Potter!” 

“Look, sleep on the bed, sleep on the floor, I don’t care, I had a long day and I’m tired, so I’m not leaving here,” the gryffindor said turning to his side, kicking away the blankets, his eyes closed, his torso nude. “And turn off the light, will ya?”

“Ugh!” 

Draco finished getting ready for bed with no rush, he wouldn’t have the bed for this night anyway. He transfigurated the chair into a bed that would fit the space they had left on the bedroom, which was not much, so his magical bed was quite uncomfortable. He was certain that he was going to wake up the next morning with a terrible back pain and the day would be so much worse because of it. 

Draco laid down in the dark for awhile, unable to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in. He sighted the bed in which Potter layed semi-nude on, apparently deep asleep. It was just a bed, right? It was big enough for them to lay aside not touching each other, probably they wouldn’t even realized they were sharing it. It was just a bed. They were grown up, mature adults, perfectly capable of sleeping on the same bed without making it weird. Right. It took a couple more minutes for Draco to convince himself of that, and a couple more to create the courage to lay down next to Potter. 

But he did. Harry didn’t even move. And Merlin, this was so much better than the transfigurated chair and he quickly fell deep into sleep.

  
  


The next day, they woke up late for lunch. Jet lag was no joke. Neither was waking up on the same bed as Potter, for all it matters. Draco could not believe that the man next to him, all crooked, drooling and with the most messy hair he had ever seen, was the same boy he had had a crush on fourth year. Merlin, he had come a long way.

That ass was still very cute though. But Draco tried to ignore its position, perfectly high, as if begging to be touched.

No, that’s nonsense, Draco thought with himself, and got up to a cold shower. Brazil’s heat was messing with his head, badly. 

By the time he got out, hungry as he’d ever been, Potter was not even in the room anymore. 

“Bastard.” He murmured, not really sure why that bothered him. They weren’t obligated to do things together, right? Did Potter just decide he was going to live the rest of this trip alone? 

He found the gryffindor at the restaurant, sitting on a table full of kids that seemed super entertained by him, ordering him around and laughing loudly. A little girl tucked her doll on Harry’s arm while she went to get another one, seemed like she has just got it for Christmas. The blond would immediately be bothered by the situation, but Harry was laughing along, gladly answering all their questions and brushing the doll’s hair as if he was told to. It was sweet. Draco wondered if he was just like that with Teddy and what he would be like with his own children. 

Draco wanted to be a dad too. Someday. He wanted to get married and have a kid, it felt strange to him that this pure-blood tradition stuck with him when he abdicated so happily of all the other ones, but he guessed it was a matter of winning: He wanted to be a better father than his own dad had been, to try to make less mistakes and be more affectionate. He didn’t really like kids, though, and that was the part where he got anxious, what if he didn’t like his own either? But he figured that if he could find someone who it’d be fun to raise a kid with, someone as passionate for children and patience as one can be - just like Harry was, then it’d be alright. But not Harry, obviously, that’d be absurd. He crossed the thought from his mind as fast as it started.

Malfoy went on and made a plate for himself. The tables were filled with the same kind of food from last night, so he pretty much ate the same things, and sat on a table away from the crowd of guests that were eating and talking next to the Christmas tree. He sat down to eat his food and enjoy his book. He figured that, since he couldn’t be in Romania for work and would probably lose his job, he might as well study, maybe he’d get another job with a higher qualification. 

A couple of hours later, when the restaurant was even louder, if that was possible, and Draco was about to get up and go finish his reading in his room, Potter came by.

“Wanna get out of here?”

“Why not?” Malfoy shrug.

They walked on the beach silently for a while. Barefoot on the sand, feeling the cold water come and go rhythmically from their feet, the slytherin felt that same calm from his first night there. The wind was blowing kindly, the smell of the ocean was great, and the day was not too hot. The sky had some clouds, the sound of the waves breaking was relaxing and he could notice the sand sticking between his toes. The ambiance felt right, as if he was made for it, and he forgot that wasn’t a place he wanted to be. That is, until Potter spoke up.

“So, you had a job with Scamander?”

“Yea” He answered quietly.

“Was it Luna that recommended you? You’re friends now, right?”

“Yea, that’s right”

“How did that happen?”

“I honestly have absolutely no idea.” Potter stared at him for a second, waiting for him to elaborate. “Pansy got in contact with her for a story she was doing for the Witch Weekly. You know Pansy is a reporter, right?”

“Of course, she's written quite nasty lies about me.”

“Oh, yea, she’s very good at her job.”

“She’s horrible. And the lies she invents aren’t even good ones! That one about me dating some Hogwarts’ teenager??”

“Oh, what are you talking about? That was a great one!”

“You’re kidding me!”

“What about that one about you dancing and scratching your arse on Dumbledore’s grave?”

“That’s just the worst! I had to deal with angry fan mail for weeks!”

“But it was a good story, you have to admit it,” but Potter just rolled his eyes. “Anyway, she got in contact with Luna for a story and I don’t know what happened, I think they just clicked. So they started to hang out more often. One day Pansy invited me to a Muggle museum, she said we were gonna spend the day making fun of Muggle’s clothes and she can be really stubborn, so I went, and Luna was there, which gave us the chance to talk. Turns out she’s super funny, right? So now that’s something we always do together.”

“Going to muggle museums?” Potter said, surprised, “you, Parkinson and Luna?”

“Yea”.

“And that’s a thing?”

“I guess.”

“Wow!”

“I know, right? At least she was not a Gryffindork.”

“Hey!” Potter said, offended, but when Draco looked at him, there was a smile playing on his lips. After a moment he said, quietly, “it was a good story. The dancing on Dumbledore’s grave one.”

“I know! I was very proud of Pansy for that one.”

“That one huge article analysing my ass too.”

“Oh, that was my idea!”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I sold it to her for 20 galeons in one of ours bar nights.” Malfoy said, very proudly.

“Oh, so me and my ass are a frequent subject of your bar nights?” Harry asked, with a smirk and a conceited tone

“What?” Draco hesitated, lagging behind a little, while Harry walked in front of him. “That was not what I said.” The blond’s voice sounded in a high pitch, which seemed to make Potter feel even better with himself, as he started to walk back so he could face Malfoy. “We mostly talk shit about you, don’t be so flattered.”

“So, I _am_ a frequent subject between you.“

“That wasn’t even what we were talking about, Potter!” But Harry just turned around again, laughing at his failed attempt to dismiss what he said. And oh Merlin, what did he say! Though before he could get any deeper in regret, the gryffindor stopped abruptly right in front of him, and pointed to the sea.

“Look! There’s a tortoise!”

“What? Where?”

“Over there!” He pointed to the wave just breaking on the sand, where a not-very-big turtle was making its way back to the sea “Maybe it just layed eggs. Is it reproduction time for tortoises?”

“It’s a turtle.”

“What?”

“That’s a turtle, not a tortoise.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s a tortoise.”

“Potter, look at it, it’s swimming!”

“So?”

“Tortoises can’t swim!”

“Of course they can, just look at it!”

“But that’s not a tortoise!”

“It sure looks like one.”

“It’s a damn turtle!”

“Says who?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I think it’s a tortoise.”

“It is not. It’s a turtle.”

“So, what’s the difference?”

“Tortoises can’t swim!”

“But it _is_ swimming.”

“But it-” Right then Draco noticed Potter was trying very hard to hold back a laugh. “Fuck you, Potter!”

“I like tortoises better,”

“Nobody has asked you anything.” But Harry seemed to have decided not to engage on the fight, because he just kept walking and going on and on about how tortoises were super cute and could feel if you pet their shell and could have lighter colors depending on how warm was the place they were from. Malfoy did his best not to say anything rude, but Merlin, that was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. 

“Hey, let’s have some ice cream!” Potter said signing to a small stand close to the street, in their direction. He didn’t wait for an answer to walk over, and seemed quite happy with himself. Draco didn’t understand exactly why. Was he just having a good day, playing with kids, watching a turtle and having ice cream? Was he five years old? Would Draco really have to put up with it for a whole week? Good Merlin. 

“Hello, how can I help you?” Said the girl from the stand when they got close, she must have heard Harry talk in english.

“Hi, can we have some ice cream?”

“Oh, sorry, I just have açaí.”

“Oh, what’s that?” 

“It’s a fruit from here. Look, it kinda looks like ice cream, but it’s just the pure fruit beaten on a blender.” She proceeded to put a scoop on a small bowl to show Harry. It did look like ice cream, a very purple one. Other customers were walking away with their açaí bowls full of oatmeal, strawberries and banana slices.

“Hey, we can’t buy it.” Draco said, finally remembering they didn’t have any Brazilian Muggle money, “we left our wallets at the inn, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right, I’m sorry.” Harry told the girl.

“That’s no problem,” she answered with a smile directed to Draco. She then gave Malfoy the small bowl she was making for Harry. “On the house. Consider it a tasting.” 

Her eyes lingered longer than necessary in his, and Draco understood her flirting tone quite well, so he smiled at her and prolonged the contact between their fingers when he went to get the gift. 

“Thanks. I’ll come back for more tomorrow,” he said with a smirk.

“I’ll be waiting.” She blinked an eye before getting to her other customers. Draco gave Potter the bowl when they started to walk back to the water, noticing she had put two spoons for them. He took it but was deadly silent for a while, as if a cloud had just covered his face. Malfoy wondered if he had bipolar disorder, being all smiles on a minute and horrible serious on the other. He didn’t say anything though, not really sure if he wanted to address the subject or just go back to the light conversation they were having before.

“Aren’t you gay?” Harry said abruptly, staring at the grey eyes

“What?” Draco stopped walking, too surprised at the randomness of the question.

“You. Are you gay?”

“How is that any of your business?”

“I thought you were gay. But you were just flirting with that girl.”

It suddenly hit him. Harry was having a good time, a good day, with _him_ , and then he flirted with _someone else_. Draco smirked “Are you jealous, Potter?”

“What?! Me? That’s too stupid, even for you, Malfoy.” And he started to walk back to the inn.

***

Draco woke up with what felt like small rocks hitting his face. He opened his eyes, very confused and was immediately blinded by the light. He whined sleepy, trying to make sense of the situation.

“Here you go,” he heard Harry say, in a very pissed tone, “so you can go back to your girl and have more of whatever it is that you were really talking about.“

When the blond’s eyes were able to adjust to the brightness of the room, Potter was standing by the bed with his arms crossed on his chest, all dressed, his hair normally messed and his face in the most pissed expression Draco had ever seen. The curtains were all opened and he realized Harry tried to make his side of the bed. 

“What the fuck, Potter?” He said, sitting up and feeling the Brazilian coins and bills on him “Did you throw money on me?”

The situation would be very funny and the slytherin could think of about a hundred jokes to make about it, but Harry huffed.

“Mrs. Patty is waiting for us at the looby. Apparently we have a boat trip planned.” The gryffindor’s voice was steady but he looked like he wanted to punch Draco on the face. He huffed again and went out of the room, just saying back before he closed the door on a slam: “Don’t forget the sunscreen!” 

“Fuck my life.” Malfoy sighed.

  
  


The boat wasn’t massive but it had two floors and deafening music echoing from it. The captain was a huge man, with a large moustache that he continually rolled on his finger and a booming laugh. He didn’t speak a word of english but he took the boys to the upper deck to show them the food and drinks they could have. There were three other couples sitting on the deck, so the boys figured they should do the same. The captain said something that made the others cheer and a little later they felt the boat starting to move. 

“Okaaay, so we’re really doing this.” Malfoy said holding on to the pillows on which they were seated.

“Scared, Malfoy?” Potter asked with a smirk, he wouldn’t imagine Malfoy as being afraid of the sea.

“Of course not, Potter,” he answered, bitterly, before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a minute. “I merely get seasick, that’s all.”

“Oh, do you want some meds for sickness?,” said this lady next to them. She had beautiful afro hair knotted up on top of her head and a very kind smile. “I always have one on my purse ‘cause I get sick easily”

“Oh, no, thank you, I’ll be alright” Draco answered, smiling back at her.

“Are you sure? It really helps.”

“He doesn’t like to take meds,” Harry said, afraid that Malfoy would say something that might break the Status of Secrecy.

“Oh, okay, but if you change your mind just ask me.” 

“Thank you.”

“So, I’m Denise.” She offered her hand to Harry, who shook it, “And this is my husband Pedro.” 

She pointed to the man next to her, who seemed to be having a hard time following the conversation in English, but who offered Harry the same kind smile she had. He looked much older than her, but maybe it was just his bald head. “Nice to meet you.” 

“I’m Harry, and this is Draco.” 

The slytherin tried to smile back, but his name on Harry’s mouth just didn’t sound right. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“So, how long have you two been together?,” the woman asked, getting closer to them. The blond didn’t like that she seemed ready to make new friends, but he had learned better than to blow them off, he had learned to be polite and make conversation in situations like this.

“Oh, we just got married, actually,” Draco answered, afraid that Harry would say something and blow their disguises up.

“Oh my God! Is this your honeymoon then? That’s incredible! On our honeymoon we went to Europe, didn’t we, honey? To Portugal, it was great. Have you been there?”

“No, unfortunately not, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

“It really is. But tell me, how did you two meet?”

“We’ve known each other since school.”

“That’s so romantic! Are you highschool sweethearts?!”

“No!” They both answered together, laughing at how crazy that idea sounded. 

“We actually hated each other!” Harry completed, still laughing.

Denise put on a confused look, “Oh?”

“We fell in love when we got in touch again, a couple of years after we graduated,” the blond started to say, holding Potter’s hand foundly and bringing it to his lap. The brunette tensed up, facing him as if that was the craziest thing he had ever done, so he smiled trying to convince Potter to follow his lead “Isn’t that right, baby?”

“Yes. Yea!! That’s… That’s right, _baby._ ” Potter then laid his head on Draco’s shoulder. “We ended up stuck together at… a cupboard. In a cupboard. Hm… At a mutual friend’s party. So, you know, one thing led to another and we, how did you put it, baby? _Fell in love._ So, we just got married in this huge wedding with loads of guests at a country house with rainbows decorations!” Harry smiled proudly at his story, and, as to prove it, he brought up their enlaced hands and kissed the blond’s. “We also don’t believe in the ring’s tradition,” he thought to add, while he was at it. He didn’t need to look to know that Draco had rolled his eyes. 

Draco squeezed his hand, extremely hard “Oh, honey, you’re _so extra._ ” 

“That’s exactly why you love me,” Harry laughed, awkwardly, fighting to release his hand from the hold.

“Oh, you’re so cute together!” Denise cried with her hand upon her chest. The idea disgusted both the boys.

The captain came back to give them orientations of some kind, the other couples got up and leaned over the boat to face something at the water.

“He said we can see some fish now, but we can jump on the water if we want and see corals!,” Denise explained, being helped up by her husband. Everybody was taking their clothes off now, revealing swimsuits. Denise started to put sunscreen on, and people were getting ready to go into the water. The boys got up as well, to watch the fish in the water, but they hadn’t brought any trunks, and they seemed to have come to a mutual silent agreement that transfigurating their current clothes now wouldn’t be a great idea next to so many Muggles.

“Oh I wanted to see tortoises,” Harry suddenly said, the saddest look in his eyes.

“For the love of Merlin, Potter!,” Draco snapped, “There are no tortoises here, especially in open sea cause they can’t fucking swim! Do you want to see dead tortoises, Potter?”

Harry looked astonished, “Jesus. Why are you like this?”

“Why can’t you differ turtles from tortoises?!”

“You’re an ass.”

Draco stuffed his chest “I do have a very nice ass.”

“That was not what I said!” 

“But you thought so.” Draco answered with a smirk.

“I-I mean-What? No! That’s besides the point.” But Malfoy just laughed, pleased with himself that he not only was able to mess with Harry but he also got his ass a compliment. 

  
  


The boat had stopped on a couple of beaches during the day: for lunch, for pictures, for bird watching and now they were at one for the sunset. Harry sat down on the sand and entertained himself building a small sand castle while Malfoy went for a swim, that, honestly, took longer than Harry usually takes on the shower. So when Potter saw him coming back, he got up and walked to in his direction, actually rather quickly. It wasn’t that Harry missed him or anything, but he did left Harry alone with a bunch of people speaking a language he couldn’t understand and a few couples deeply in each other’s mouths, so the gryffindor was merely glad to get back to a comfort zone. Even if a comfort zone, in that moment, meant Draco Malfoy. 

“Merlin!,” Harry murmured thinking about this, realizing his life had turned upside down in three days. Walking distracted, not really seeing what was in front of him, he stepped on something that felt like fire. “Ah! Fuck!” 

Draco was by his side in a blink of an eye, “What’s wrong?” 

“It burns!” Potter answered holding the hurt feet and jumping on the other to try and keep his balance.

“You stepped on a jellyfish,” Draco said, crouching next to the animal to get a closer look.

The gryffindor held his feet tighter, as it burned badly. “Son of a bitch!” 

“C’mon, we need to get you vinegar and hot water.” Draco held him by his waist and guided him to the closest restaurant. He seated Potter on a chair and tried to explain to someone what happened and ask for water but he wasn’t sure anybody there understood him, and he couldn’t see Denise anywhere. Draco wanted to simply get his wand and perform a couple of spells that would stop the pain, heal the burn and make Harry’s skin smooth again, but to know he couldn’t and to see the gryffindor squirm his face in pain made Draco feel anxious and powerless.

A second later, though, somebody from the restaurant came back with vinegar to soak Harry’s foot in.

“Vai passar.” The man told Harry. A feeling crossed Draco’s heart when he saw Potter’s nodding his head, with an eased expression. He didn’t know why that bothered him, nor why he was so pissed at himself for not being able of taking care of the brunette alone. The man then gave Draco a jar with hot water and told him something in portuguese, but he knew what to do. 

“Thanks for the help,” Harry said quietly when he sat down next to him. Draco nodded, still kinda mad, mostly because he knew he didn’t have any reason for it. “How did you know about the vinegar?”

“I read about it.”

“You read a lot about the benefits of vinegar?”

“About the jellyfish, actually”

“Oh?” But Harry realized it the moment he said it “Of course, you work with animals, right? You work with Scamander, after all”

“I study about them, more specifically about their uses in potions. I’ve never actually worked with them. Nor Scamander.” Draco reminded him 

“Right.” Potter snapped his tongue. He felt guilty about Malfoy losing his job with Scamander, even if he knew it wasn’t his fault. Harry didn’t hold grudges about the war, not for Malfoy at least, but the rest of the world made his life so difficult while Harry got special privileges everywhere he went. It wasn’t really fair, was it? Well, Ron would say it was. He sighed, thinking about Ron. The Weasleys would certainly be playing their traditional Christmas quidditch game and he was sorry he wouldn’t be there to fight Ginny for the snitch. That was the moment he looked up though, and he saw the most beautiful sky he had ever seen. “Wow!”

Malfoy looked at him, and then followed his gaze to the sun setting on the horizon. It painted the sky in a perfect gradient of pink, red and orange. The few clouds in the sky and the light also reflecting on the water made the scenario feel endless and Draco feel tiny, but his heart was once again full of peace. And he started thinking that if the quiet moments Brazil’s nature could give him always made him feel like this, like he belonged, he didn’t really want to go back home. It was incredibly beautiful. 

“I love sunsets.” Harry commented, still facing the sky, in a dreamy tone.

“I like sunrises better.”

“Nobody can wake up at sunrise!”

“Everybody can wake up at sunrise. You’re just lazy!”

“I’m just not a morning person.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Which is code for lazy.”

That made Harry roll his eyes.

“But that’s why sunrises are better, anyway” the blond continued, “there are less people you have to share it with.”

“You never learnt that sharing is caring?”

Draco rolled his eyes again, “I never cared about that.”

“You can’t spend one day without rolling your eyes at me, can you?”

“Oh, as if. You do it more often than I do.”

“I do not!”

Draco rolled his eyes half way, containing himself, “Wanna bet?”

A sparkle shined on Harry’s eyes, “Absolutely. The first one to roll their eyes loses.”

“And what does the winner get?”

“I don’t know, let me think about what I want.”

“Ha ha, don’t bother,” Draco smirked and looked out of the conner of his eyes to see if Harry was already losing, but he had the cutest smile playing on his lips.

******

The next day went on surprisingly smoothly.

They woke up late and almost missed breakfast, which Draco knew would be a disaster because Potter would be in a bad mood the whole day without coffee. After breakfast, they went to the beach and Malfoy started reading another book while Harry went to the water, not even remembering he got hurt the day before. Lunch was delicious as always and Mrs. Patty had found them to say the _lovely couple_ had the afternoon free to _enjoy themselves_ , so they pretty much spent it on the room napping. Jet lag was really no joke and who would have thought beaches could make them so tired?

By the time the sun had set, Mrs. Patty called to say they had dinner reservations at eight and they should get ready for it. 

“Great! A romantic dinner, how perfect!” Harry exclaimed.

“Are you faking that tone so you won’t roll your eyes?”

“Hey, you don’t fuck with my strategies, I won’t fuck with yours,” and for that, Draco had to make quite the effort not to lose the bet.

The restaurant was super fancy. The patio was completely open, which was perfect for tonight, with a gentle sea breeze and a starry sky. Several small yellow lights hung around the place, along with pink flowers. Most tables were occupied with couples exchanging smiles over a small candle. A waiter led them to their table, the one with the most privileged view of the beach. 

“Wow, that couple really booked a great trip.”

“I know, right? It’s really a shame they won’t get it”

“Do you think the Ministry will pay them back?,” Draco asked, casually, as if just making conversation while they admired the view, but Harry thought he had felt a bit of fear in his voice. Maybe if the Minister would pay the couple back for the trip they lost cause of their mistake, they would also make sure the slytherin didn’t lose his job.

“Sure,” Potter said in a reassuring tone. “Hermione will definitely make sure of that.”

“What is it that Granger does at the Ministry, after all? You said her position is higher than yours”

“I have no idea, to be honest. Her title is too big to remember and she has explained it so many times now that if I ask again she’ll just get mad.”

Draco couldn’t hold back a laugh. He wasn’t even surprised, this was just so like Potter! Harry laughed too, because, yes, he was dumb and the situation was absurd, but mostly because the slytherin’s laugh was fun. The brunette was surprised to enjoy the picture: Malfoy’s face on the candle’s flame lighting, laughing as freely as Harry had never seen it, his light blue shirt unbuttoned showing part of his chest and the stars as background. It was a beautiful picture.

The waiter came by and introduced himself as Mateus. He brought champagne and said he would be serving them tonight. “Would you like to see the menu or go with the chef’s suggestion?”

The boys exchanged a look before Harry answered, trusting on the experiences they had had with Brazil’s culinary so far, “The chef’s suggestion sounds perfect.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back with your food.” 

“Thank you.”

“So…” Harry started, after a while in silence, staring at the Dark Mark uncovered on Malfoy’s arm. It was now surrounded by flowers, tulips, daisies, freesias, in all shades of pink and yellow. The Mark was still visible in the center, as if the blond didn’t want to hide it, just adorn it. 

“What do you want to ask?” Draco said quietly, laying his arm on the table so Harry could take a closer look at the tattoo, not minding the curious eyes. It took a long time, but Draco had made peace with the Mark.

“Just… Why flowers?,” Harry asked, looking at his grey eyes

“It’s kind of a restart, isn’t it? To bloom.”

“I guess… Did it hurt?”

“A little bit. I suppose the wizard kind wouldn’t, though.”

“Oh, is it muggle?”

“Yea, Luna took me to a tattoo studio.”

“That’s amazing! I want to get a dragon, or a snitch, maybe, or a lily.”

“You should probably decide first.”

“Yea, that’s why I haven’t got it yet. Do you have any other tattoos?”

“Not yet, but I want to get the solar system.”

“Why?”

“It helps me to remember that I'm just a very tiny part of the universe.”

Harry sighed, “I just want a dragon ‘cause it looks cool.” 

Draco laughed at his frustrated gaze. It surprised him that he didn’t care that Harry found him better than him in something, he merely thought the gryffindor was putting too much effort into it and made a funny face.

“Muggle or wizard?,” Potter asked.

“Maybe wizard this time, so it can move around my back.”

“I like that.”

Their eyes locked and a serene smiled played in both their lips, as if they were trapped in a trance.

Just then, their waiter came by with their dishes. He said it was a typical plate of Brazilian cuisine. It was called Bobó de Camarão and consisted in mashed mandioca with shrimps, coconut milk and a series of other spices. It was so good that Harry could marry his plate.

They got too busy enjoying their delicious food to keep talking, but by the end of their main course Harry was sure their waiter was staring at them and it was bothering him. He should be used to people staring at him by this time in his life, considering the kind of celebrity he was in the wizarding world, but he honestly hated it. Mostly at this circumstances, Harry was pretty sure his lighting scar wasn’t the reason Mateus couldn’t keep his eyes out of their table. He had had trouble with homophobic Muggles in London a couple of times, so he tensed up thinking this would be a similar situation.

He leaned over the table to say, “Our waiter keeps staring at us.”

Draco had noticed it too. But he was sure Mateus was trying to flirt with the gryffindor. And, honestly, on the one pleasant evening they had, would he have to put up not only with a waiter trying to flirt with his so called husband, but also with Potter being so full of himself? It stressed him. “Are you kidding me, Potter?”

“What?”

Malfoy found the waiter still facing them, so he took a deep breath and reached for Harry’s hand on the table, enlacing their fingers. He had no idea why the gryffindor didn’t get back, but whatever was the reason he was glad to be able to put on the rest of his show. 

Draco looked deep inside those emerald eyes and smiled in a way that made Harry’s heart skip a beat. Draco seemed extremely fond of him, as if he was so glad Harry was right there with him, as if there was no other place in the whole damn world he’d rather be. The gryffindor wasn’t sure if he was making it up, but was it possible for someone to pretend this much affection? When Draco opened his mouth Harry was ready to hear the most romantic sentence he could imagine but all he got was “You’re a prat.”

“What are you doing?,” Potter asked, feeling hurt, trying to get his hand out of the embrace, but the blond wouldn’t let him and it made him quite anxious, “Let go!”

“No.” Malfoy held tighter. “Why are you mad?”

“I’m not mad.”

“Are you hurt?”

“I-”

“I wouldn’t take you for being the sensitive type, Potter.”

“I’m not!” Harry tried to pull back harder. 

“Hey, stay in character. We don’t need anyone questioning why we’re fighting on our honeymoon.”

“We’re not on our honeymoon, Malfoy, nobody cares if we fight.”

“I care if they might throw me in muggle Azkaban for faking my identity”

“There’s no such thing!”

“But you said-”

“Merlin, you’re so stupid!” Harry finally freed his hand. “You think you’re so right all the time and you can do and say whatever you want and it’ll have no consequences.”

“No consequences? I lost everything because of a damn choice, my life is all messed up because of a tattoo on my arm. You don’t know what-”

“I don’t know what? I don’t know what that’s like?! Your life might have taken a wrong curve at the war, but mine did a little bit before that, don’t you think, Malfoy?”

But the blond couldn’t find the words to reply to that. Did talking about the Dark Mark open the door for the war subject? Damn it, they have been avoiding it so carefully. Draco wouldn’t have let Harry ask questions if he knew this would happen. He thought he could talk about the Mark, he knew Potter was curious and he didn’t see this storm coming. He didn’t notice Harry wasn’t talking about the war in the first place. Harry wasn't upset about the war, he was upset because he felt like Draco was misleading him.

The waiter showed up a second later with dessert: a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, walnuts and ganache on top, and two spoons.

Harry sighed, unseasily. What was wrong with him? Malfoy looked at him a little too long and he was ready to fall in love? Did he think _Malfoy_ was ready to fall in love? They had been able to keep what? One conversation without getting in each other’s throats? Honestly, what was Harry thinking? What was he _feeling?_

Draco handed one of the spoons to Harry. 

“I thought you didn’t share food.” 

“I do tonight.” 

And Harry would be extremely flattered by that, he’d probably smile gladly, if the circumstances were different. By then, he just accepted because maybe the chocolate would make him feel better.

They didn’t talk while eating the delicious brownie, nor on the walk back to the inn, nor when Mrs. Patty asked _how was the dinner, lovely couple?_ , nor on the way up to their room. The blond locked himself in the bathroom and Potter layed on the bed too tired to even change into his pajamas. 

The thing about Malfoy was that he was hot. His pale hairless chest, his large shoulders, his Dark Mark covered in flowers tattoos intrigued Harry, he couldn’t deny it. He liked the platinum blond hair messy and wet like it was right now, as Malfoy got out of the shower and ran his long fingers on it to get it out of his eyes. He liked his long neck, so appealing for hot kisses, and his ears that Harry hadn’t noticed before that were pierced. Potter liked to win arguments with the slytherin, he liked the tingling feeling on his stomach every time they competed over something silly. But the thing was that Malfoy was a git. And listen, Harry could get over a lot of things from their past, he could get over all the pranks from their school years and Draco being against him on the war, but he just couldn’t forgive that the bloke was an unbearable git. 

******

The number one thing Draco Malfoy hates the most is being wrong. 

He thought he could play the romantic look on Potter to scare off the waiter, but he wasn’t sure why the thought of somebody else flirting with Harry bothered him so much. He got that Harry pretending not to notice the flirt annoyed him, he just couldn’t believe the gryffindor would be 1- that oblivious and 2- that self centered. Is it too normal to have people paying attention to you that you don’t even notice anymore, or you get pissed because it’s so frequent that it becomes harassment? And to point it out to Draco made everything worse because it wasn’t like that with the blond. In fact his romantic life has been a complete mess for the past years. So, one could say he got jealous. 

Malfoy didn’t get why Potter reacted so jumpy like that. He thought, the other day at the beach, Harry might have a crush on him, but it sounded so absurd. Honestly, why would he? And even if so, he just put on puppy eyes to gaze at him for a second, did Potter took that as a hint? Was Draco misleading him? He didn’t even know he had this power. He wished so, of course, that was Harry Potter after all, his biggest teenagerhood crush. He may get into Draco’s nerves as easily as he could breathe, but he was still quite hot and if he did have a crush on the blond... Merlin. Malfoy thought he might faint.

So, he wanted to be right about Potter’s feelings more than anything, but the thought of being wrong scared the shit out of him.

They were pretty sure Mrs. Patty had sensed something was weird but since Harry had lied about the danger of them being arrested, Draco didn’t give a fuck about pretending any longer. She came over to their table at breakfast to give them a list.

“You may go downtown today, it’s a twenty minute walk from here. And here’s a list of everyone you can’t forget to get a souvenir for. But be careful, it’s going to rain in the afternoon. Have fun, will you?” She left then an envelope with a lot of money and a small list of names. Merlin, they had all this money here all this time? Draco almost rolled his eyes.

The walk downtown was done in silence. He usually wouldn’t mind, but the fact that Harry was mad at him and that he knew he _might_ have earned it bothered him a lot. Potter was the one always talking, right? So he told himself the brunette would give in soon enough. But they got there and he didn’t. Draco didn’t know how to say sorry and he didn’t know if there was any other way to make things okay with Potter.

He tried to think of something he could say that would get the gryffindor speaking again, even if it was to fight. Maybe he could offend his friends, that’d get him pissed, but a more pissed Harry wasn’t really what Draco needed right now, so he thought about asking what has been his favourite brazilian food so far, but it might have been last night’s dinner and that would bring everything up again. Maybe he could ask about Teddy, yea, that would definitely get him going. When he looked around though, the man wasn’t anywhere near him. He was so distracted in his thoughts he didn’t notice that Harry stayed behind to look at a souvenir shop window. Draco found him right before he got inside.

The store was huge and had a quite vast variety of products, from culinary books to sunscreen, water bottles, and snowglobes that actually showed the beach. Harry was looking for some t-shirts that seemed to be from a sport team. 

The slytherin intrigued himself with the products from the other side of the store. There were a whole bunch of different keychains with the most curious shapes and a huge collection of mugs painted with Brazil’s turistics places, such as the Sugar Loaf and the Christ The Redeemer. He eventually got to the clothing section, while Potter was holding a green and red shirt and looking for a book. One specific pair of shorts got Draco’s attention: They were white with little turtles printed all over it. He bought them without thinking twice. 

When they finally got out of the store, Malfoy decided to break the ice:

“Do you think we should buy something for these people?” He shook the list on his hand.

Harry shrugged “Sure. We can find them some gifts”

“Souvenirs.”

“What?”

“We wouldn’t know how to buy them gifts, we don’t know them.”

Potter did his best not to roll his eyes, but it seriously took him a great effort. “Why do you have to correct everything I say?”

“Cause there’s a difference. You just bought Granger a book because she’s a bookaholic since she was a child and you think she’ll like it, and you got Weasley a shirt from a soccer team cause you both bond over sports, right? And you spent hours collecting shells for Teddy’s collection. Those are gifts, ‘cause you thought it was perfect for someone when you saw it. For these people the best we can do are souvenirs.”

Harry stared at Malfoy for a minute. Maybe it was his tone of voice, surprisingly not supercilious, nor cold and collected like usual, but merely curious. He looked like he didn’t even think before speaking up, and Harry had never seen him do that, he had never seen anything come as easy to Draco Malfoy as this. Maybe it was that Harry hadn't realized that the blond knew him the slightest, let alone pay attention to what he does in a souvenir shop. The point is that the gryffindor was moved. He caught himself wondering what he should do to unlock this Malfoy more often. 

“Alright. Let’s shop for souvenirs,” he said, walking to the next souvenir shop in their sight. “Should we buy them all the same thing or should we try and guess their personalities?” 

The slytherin nodded, smiling inside for getting Harry to talk normally again. “Let’s try and guess.”

By lunch time they decided to get hamburgers and sit somewhere quiet on the beach to eat it. They walked away from the beach umbrellas and kids running around, and came across a bunch of huge rocks that divided the beach in two. They figured that the view would be great from the middle of it, so they climbed and tiptoed through the rocks, carefully not to slip, until they found a good and steady place to sit. 

“I haven’t had burgers in such a long time,” Harry commented, taking a bite. “Merlin, I missed it”

“Why haven’t you eaten it?” Draco asked, eating with a bit more class.

“I always have lunch with Hermione and she won’t let me eat junk. Sometimes I have dinner with Ron and her too, and most of my weekends I’m with Teddy, trying to teach him not to eat junk.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say you’re missing much.”

“What? You don’t like burgers?”

“I like nice homemade ones. Not much this Muggle kind” He said giving his burger a disdain look.

“You’re so presumptuous.”

“I just admire an exquisite cuisine.”

Harry didn’t answer to that because he thought he might had to roll his eyes, but he found Draco’s habits funny. The man was such a rich son of a bitch. 

“Do you hear that?,” Draco asked, finishing collecting all their trash in a paper bag. Potter looked around, as if that would make him hear better, but when he was about to say he didn’t hear anything, he heard it. Not far from where they stood, a low moan. His eyes widened. 

“Is that-?” And they heard another moan, this time louder, followed by another one and another. 

“Oh my Merlin!” Malfoy stood up, ready to go home and not bother this horny couple but he looked behind them, in between two rocks horribly closed to them, a heterosexual couple fucking.

“Oh my dear God,” said Harry following the blond’s gaze. The boys exchanged an awkward look and silently agreed they should get out of there as quickly as possible - that is, without slipping in the wet rocks, if that was even possible when one was trying so hard not to laugh. When they got to the sand again, they ran up the beach and onto the street, already laughing hysterically. The situation was unimaginably awkward and just too absurd to be serious, so they stopped running when air was missing from their lungs. Draco leaned on his knees to catch his breath while Harry just sat on the ground, running his fingers through his hair to get it out of his face and gazing at the blond. He saw almost the same picture he did the other day at the restaurant, when he caught Draco laughing freely and the world seemed to be held in slow motion for a second. Merlin, he looked beautiful like that. Harry was done pretending he didn’t.

“Hey,” he said, finally, sitting up, “What’s that?” 

Draco had a bag from the same store Harry bought the gifts for his friends, but he hadn’t noticed it before. 

“Oh, it’s for you actually.” The slytherin stood up and offered his hand to help Potter up, before he gave him the bag, “They’re not tortoises, but I figured, since you don’t know the difference, you’d like them”

Harry got the shorts out of the bag to see small turtles printed all over it. It was funny, something he’d never bought himself but he loved it. He grinned widely at Draco.

“You got me a gift.”

Malfoy shrugged “Consider it a late Christmas gift”

Potter reached for his bag too, searching for something that seemed to have gotten lost inside it, but he found it: A small turtle, carved on wood, with a shaking head. 

“I got this for you, too,” he said, handing it to the blond. Draco laughed but took it and touched its head to make it move. It was adorable, “It’s a tortoise!”

The slytherin opened his mouth the second he heard it, he was about to snap and scream at him that it was a turtle, but he conteined himself and turned around instead, so the gryffindor wouldn’t see him roll his eyes the farthest he could.

“Are you rolling your eyes?” Harry asked running to the front of Draco’s face, but the blond, but Draco turned again “You are, aren’t you?! I know you are!” But when Potter got to his front Draco turned again, laughing at their dumbness 

“You can’t prove it!”

“You bastard! I know you’re rolling your eyes at me!” Harry even tried to hold him but Malfoy just kept turning around making him go along “You just lost!”

“You can’t prove it!” He repeated, both of them still laughing together.

Suddenly they heard thunder. Before they could stop laughing and look at the cloudy sky, the rain started pouring hardly on them. People started to run from the beach and the streets into the stores across the street, where they could hide from the summer storm. 

“If you bet me to the inn I may forget you just lost this bet,” Harry said with a smirk. Malfoy didn’t even answer before he was running away, Potter followed closed by, not even realizing he was still laughing out loud. 

The inn wasn’t too far, and with the streets almost empty because of the rain, it took them no time to get there, breathless and completely soaked. But here’s the thing, Harry got there (a second) first.

“It was a tie.” Malfoy pointed his finger at the brunette.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“You cheated!”

“How could I cheat on this?”

“You are all athletic and shit, you still play Quidditch”

“So what?”

“Well, so you were more prepared for a run.”

“That’s not cheating.”

“It is, shut up!” Draco pushed Harry on the shoulder, a smile still playing on his lips though. 

The gryffindor pushed back “You shut up!”

“Fuck off.” The blond was on his way to push Harry again but he held his arm, which made Malfoy lose his balance for a second and Harry took the chance to pull him closer. (Un)fortunately, it got them too close. Their laughs died out as their breaths came to normal and the water ran down their faces. Harry’s glasses were completely wet, and the slytherin didn’t think before reaching his free hand to take them out. He just wanted to see those emerald eyes shining brightly again. He had always loved how charming they were. 

Potter used his free hand to take Draco’s hair out of his face and caress his cheek. His fingers on the blond’s face felt like fire. Draco wondered how could he be so warm, but then Harry moved his hand to that long neck he has been dreaming of kissing for a few days now, and Malfoy felt like his entire body was on fire. Harry could kiss him, he just needed to take one step closer and then he could kiss him. And he wanted to, he was so sure of that now that he did it: He stepped closer.

And Draco stepped back. 

******

The next day, when they’d just came down for lunch, Mrs. Patty welcomed them with a big suggestive smile. _The dear couple took the morning to enjoy themselves, didn’t they?_ And they couldn’t say they didn’t, but not how she imagined. Harry spent the whole morning sleeping while Draco, having been awake since sunrise, spent it reading another one of his books. 

They hadn’t talked much since the incident the day before. Harry was feeling stupid and rejected and didn’t want to look at Draco’s face anymore. But Draco was feeling kind of stupid too, he regretted stepping back as soon as he did it, but there was no coming back now. They both didn’t want things to be even more awkward though, and for that, they spent the day tiptoeing around each other, being extremely polite and forcing themselves to make conversation about the weather.

By night, Mrs. Patty sent them on their way to another romantic dinner. But as they waited on the line for their table to be ready, they exchanged a look that meant they didn’t want to be there. The last time didn’t go so well, Draco didn’t want to fight and Harry was, honestly, afraid that he would feel something more. His complicated feelings were already too much right now. 

“What if we go for a drink instead?,” Malfoy suggested with a smirk, and Harry agreed immediately, grateful for the chance of forgetting some things for a couple of hours.

They found a bar that looked nice. It was agitated and looked like there was a party going on on the rooftop, but it was just as crowded on the first floor. The place had kind of a rustic aesthetics, with the brick walls and the wood floor, the bar was long and full of bartenders but nobody was sitting, people came by, ordered their drinks and went back to the dance floor where a DJ was playing a type of brazilian music that really agitated the customers. They sat on the bar and ordered a beer and a martini. Draco shuddered.

“What?”

“Should have known you were the beer type of guy.”

“What does that mean?” Harry asked, defensively.

Malfoy sighed, “Nevermind.”

“No, say it.”

“It’s just not… classy,” he answered, bickering his drink. Potter laughed, sarcastically.

“There you are again, all cocky and arrogant. I thought the way you acted yesterday was the real you, you know, that this here was a mask. But it’s just the opposite, isn’t it?”

Draco looked at him, seriously. Was that it now? He refuses one kiss and now he deserves this treatment? “You are so innocent to ever think you’d know the real me, Potter.”

“Yea, so I figured.”

“You don’t know anything. Not about me, my life, my past.”

“Whatever, Malfoy.”

“You thought that a week in Brazil would be enough to know me? You thought this made us friends?”

“Fuck you, Malfoy!,” Harry exclaimed, turning his back to the blond to get up and out of there, but during his sudden move his arm hit the beer cup that was too close to the edge of the bar. The glass broke on the floor and the beer wet Draco’s pants. 

“Fuck, Potter!” The slytherin said getting up. Harry got some napkins to help him clean himself.

“I’m sorry.”

“Get out!,” Malfoy snapped. If he was back to being _his true arrogant self_ , Potter was back to taking two seconds to get on his nerves. 

Somebody from the bar came to clean the broken glass from the floor, so no one would get hurt later, and the boys sat a couple of stools away. The barman asked Harry if he wanted another beer.

“Nah, give me a whiskey. I’m going to need something stronger to get through this night.” He answered, which honestly offended the blond. He got his martini and turned to face the dance floor. Maybe he could get a man tonight, maybe then the night would suck a little less. So he crossed eyes with a very good looking tall man, wearing some very tight jeans and a loose see-through shirt. The slytherin smiled as the man walked over, he sat straight and took a sip from his drink, ready to go home with him. 

“Hey” He said when the guy was close enough to hear.

“Hey, you are not from here?”

“Nah, I’m from London.”

“Nice. You wanna dance?,” Draco nodded in answer, getting up. Harry came in the middle of them though, very much pissed off

“We are fucking married! Get off!” The gryffindor screamed at the man before turning to the blond, holding his face on his both hands and kissing him. Just like that. Strong and intense. 

Malfoy was caught by surprise. Harry didn’t give him time to process it, a minute later their lips were apart again. Draco was left with a confused butterfly inside his stomach, his whole body was hot, his head was spinning. Harry Potter had kissed him. 

Merlin, fuck. Harry Potter had kissed him and he did not kiss back. 

When he was able to focus again the man was way long gone and Harry was seated next to him, all grumpy. 

“Well, shouldn’t you have proposed?” He showed Potter his hand, “I don’t recall you giving me a diamond ring.”

Harry would have laughed at him if he wasn’t freaking out so badly. Merlin, if Hermione ever knew this he would never hear the end of _how impulsive he was_. Well, in that moment he kinda agreed. What the serious fuck was wrong with him? You can’t just go around kissing blokes like that, even if you had spent the last week with them and even if he had given signs that he may be interested, he also gave clear signs he wasn’t, right? He stepped back yesterday. But he didn’t now. He even made a joke about it. Did that mean Harry had a chance or did that mean Harry just blew his chance?

Potter didn’t even realise as time went by, but he had a feeling that his glass had been empty for quite a while when a girl, who had leaned over the bar to order something, asked him something, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“I’m sorry, what?”

The girl smiled and opened her mouth to answer but Draco pulled Harry away from her by the sleeve of his shirt “Get your paws off _my husband._ ” 

“Paws? I’m not a fucking dog” She said, offended.

“Do I look like I care? Get lost!” 

The gryffindor looked at him, deep in those grey eyes and threw his hands in the air, “Oh so _now_ I am _your_ husband? I don’t remember _you_ putting a ring on it!”

“Are you _fucking mad?!_ I’m the one that has to be mad, do you know how pissed off I get because everywhere we go everyone’s looking at you?”

“At me? Everyone is looking at you, you dipshit!”

“Oh, please, Potter, at least _know_ that you’re hot!”

“Wait, you think I’m hot?” Harry changed his tone suddenly, half surprised, half flattered by the compliment. Draco rolled his eyes so deep he swore he could see his brain. 

“Querida, eles estão brigando desde que chegaram aqui.” They heard the barman say to the girl, she looked perplexed. The barman gave her a glass ”Olha, toma um shot, por conta da casa.” 

“I don’t understand what they say!” The gryffindor told Draco, very frustrated.

“Well, maybe you should learn portuguese then.”

“You’re such an ass, Malfoy! You’re not any better than me!”

“I didn’t say so.”

“You act like it, all the time! You look at me like you’re in love or something, then you say we’re not friends and now you’re jealous?!”

“What does that have to do with being better than you?”

“You just..” Harry rubbed his eyes under his glasses in complete frustration, “Ugh!” 

“You’re not making sense, Potter”

“You make me lose my mind!,” the gryffindor said, before storming out. He walked straight to the inn, perfectly aware of Malfoy’s angry footsteps behind him.

******

So, Harry had a crush on Draco Malfoy. 

If he was being honest with himself he had had a crush on Malfoy long before, around their sixth year at Hogwarts. Harry was confident it had something to do with his hair, he remembered on sixth year Draco started to wear it without gel, and now he was also wearing it kind of messy, even if it was a very purposeful mess. But really, the hair was just a metonymy. 

What made Draco really attractive to Potter was his carefree attitude in the place of his usual composed one. That was what Harry found hot in a guy: an inordinate passion for something, spontaneity, confidence, their unique way to see him. In sixth year he didn’t know how to deal with it, he was too stuck in their fights, but now his feelings were a little bit clearer. 

Draco was not only physically hot but he was intriguing. He had deep thoughts about the world, he had changed his view of so many aspects, and that tattoo talked they had? About blooming? Harry believes he deserved a restart. This week gave Potter the chance to see him smile with his eyes and laugh as if he didn’t care, they talked without trying to one-up each other and they were actually able to enjoy time together. 

The gryffindor meant what he said the night before though, about Malfoy having a mask. He thought he had unlocked this part of the blond that made jokes and enjoyed talking to him, this part that seemed to insult him as a joke instead of trying to hurt him. And Harry really liked that, but he truly didn’t know which part of him was the real one. Was it the long stares and the shared laughs or was it the rolled eyes and the malicious insults?

Harry waited until Mrs. Patty finished attending other guests to get closer to the front desk. 

“Morning, Mr. Ellen, can I help you?” She said, and took Harry a second to realize this was he was pretending to be

“Good morning, Mrs Patty. I was wondering if you could teach me how to say ‘I hate you’ in portuguese?”

She gave him a worried look “Is everything alright with your husband?”

“Yea, sure, it’s more like an internal joke”

“Oh,” but she really didn’t seem convinced, “Okay. You just gotta say ‘eu te odeio’”

“Eu te odeio,” Harry repeated to check his pronunciation, and kept murmuring the sentence all the way to the restaurant, to get breakfast. He was surprised to see Malfoy at one table, as the blond was still deep asleep when he got up this morning. He wanted to come to him and say ‘I hate you’ but couldn’t bring himself to do so, for some reason. Maybe because it was a lie.

Instead, he walked to the tapioca stand and asked the chef to make him two, the same way he had done it the past mornings. He brought the plates to the table and placed the one with the chocolate tapioca in front of the slytherin, sitting in front of him, where a cup of coffee was placed. 

“I put a spell on it so it wouldn’t get cold” Draco said quietly

“Thanks” Potter answered drinking it, it already had sugar too. The exact perfect amount. 

The truth was that Draco hadn’t even slept that night. How could he with so many thoughts boiling in his mind?

The good news was that he had figured it out by sunrise: He hadn’t gotten over his adolescence crush. He really thought he did. Realizing that made him frustrated. 

The blond didn’t want to have a crush on Harry Potter. The brunette had rejected him when he tried to be friends on their first year, and then over and over again in every single attempt he took to call his attention. They became enemies, it became unbearable to be close to him without insulting each other. And then the war started, Malfoy made all the wrong decisions and the war ended leaving its demons with him. He never thought Harry would look at his Dark Mark and not feel repulsive, but he did. They talked about it and the emerald eyes had nothing but curiosity in them. 

It annoyed him that the gryffindor could be the bigger person so easily. He had never been perfect, the Saint Potter everybody thought he was, he was impulsive and didn’t have a bit of self preservation in his body, he was too humble to the point of being easily manipulated, he couldn’t get hold of his hair, he didn’t know how to behave in most situations, and he was oblivious to absolutely everything. But damn, he could love anyone that’d give him the chance. For most of his school years Draco wanted to be part of that list of people Harry would die for. 

He was certain Potter had a crush on him now. It was honestly the only explanation for how he had been acting. But part of him was still scared to death he misinterpreted everything, if he acted on it and got rejected again what would he do? He didn’t have a mansion and his parent’s money and power anymore, he wouldn’t have other chances to prove it was his loss. 

Draco walked down the beach completely lost in his thoughts. 

Maybe this situation they were in - stuck in Brazil pretending they were a couple - didn’t make them friends, but it certainly did change something between them.

He almost stepped on a beautiful shell. It was bigger than the ones Potter had collected the other day, and it had curves lines in a dark shade of red decorating it. He got it thinking about the brunette, and started to walk back to the umbrella where he left him earlier. 

Harry wasn't there when he got back, but he showed up a while later with a bowl of açaí. He gave it to Draco mentioning he didn’t actually got the chance to taste it that other day but he should because it was good, and Draco offered him the shell, saying it was too beautiful not to add to Teddy’s collection.

Their interactions through the day weren’t bigger than a couple of sentences offered in a quiet tone and eyes that didn’t meet each other. Harry hated that. He liked the Draco that felt comfortable enough with him to speak his mind without thinking, this one made him feel like an intruder. 

When they got back from the beach, Malfoy ran upstairs but Harry stayed behind to talk to mrs Patty again. He wanted to say tortoises and turtles in portuguese.

“Tortoises are jabutis and turtles are tartarugas,” she answered. “Why all these questions about portuguese?”

“I’m trying to pick up a bit of the language.”

“But instead of asking how to say ‘Hello, how are you?’, you ask me how to say tortoises?”

Harry just shrugged,

“What’s wrong with you two?”

“Oh, he’s an idiot,” Harry rolled his eyes. “His actions don’t match his feelings, so I don’t know what to do”

“Oh, dear,” Mrs Patty sighed and came to the front of the desk, leading Harry to the sofa on the lobby. She told him to sit next to her and took a deep breath, “I was married for almost fifty years. Got married at twenty one, so young and so in love… We fought a lot. Oh yes, if someone saw us from a distance, they’d think we were unhappy, but honestly, that was how we worked. No matter how angry we got at each other, we’d always kiss goodnight and be there the next morning to have breakfast together and talk.”

“What happened then?”

“Oh, he died two years ago. A heart attack. I’ve always told him he ate too much fat!”

“I’m so sorry, mrs. Patty”

“Oh, it’s okay, dear” She brought his hand to her lap, tapping it affectionately. She took a deep breath and whispered “The secret to marriage is being honest with yourself about when it stops being worthy. You see, I’m not against divorce. Back in my time it wasn’t possible, we didn’t have as many rights, but dear, you just got married, was it really what you wanted? Is it worthy to have him in your life?”

Harry smiled at her, “Thank you, mrs Patty. I should let you get back to work now.”

“Yes, dear, go get your man!” She stood up and went back to her chores. 

Potter spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what to say and asking around the inn for people to teach him random portuguese words. He wanted to make things alright between them, he wanted a chance to get to know Draco. If this week in Brazil didn’t make them friends, he wondered what would. 

They had dinner at the inn, still moving around each other in that weird quiet functional dynamic they didn’t even notice they had been building up this entire week. They did get to know each other, at least a little bit, but they’ve known each other since they were eleven. No matter how much Malfoy wanted to believe Harry didn’t know him at all, he did, and if they could get past this they could truly be friends.

By the time they were both ready for bed, they laid on the bed in the dark, side by side, facing the ceiling, for what felt like a long time.

“Good night, Harry” Draco whispered, as if he was afraid that saying it any louder would mess the Universe’s course. That was it, he decided, that was the way to make things okay with Potter. That took all his courage to say. That was his ‘I’m sorry’ and he hoped it was enough. His heart was beating extremely fast while he was lying there in the dark, waiting for an answer he thought it would never come.

“Boa noite, Draco.”

  
  


The gryffindor felt like he had just closed his eyes for five minutes when he felt his body being shaken up. The room was still dark as Malfoy kept calling his name. 

“What’s wrong?” He said in a very sleepy voice

“C’mon. Hurry.” The blond answered in a whisper. The voice worried Harry, so he got up in a jump and followed the slytherin to the balcony, where he stood, leaned over the grid, facing the sky.

The sun was rising.

Harry leaned over next to him to watch it. They could see the exact shape of the sun as it slowly came up from the sea, pouring its rays into the water and the city little by little, painting the sky in a bright shade of orange. Malfoy had said that he liked sunrises because he didn’t have to share them with many people, but he woke Potter up - matter of factly, without even thinking about what he was doing - so they could share this one. The gryffindor thought this, along with the way he said his first name last night, was a way to tell him which part of him was real. 

When they came down for breakfast the inn was fuller than the day before. A lot of new guests had arrived for the New Year’s Eve party. Mrs Patty told them it was a tradition: They would all wear white and go to the beach to eat and drink together while some great local artists would come to perform for them. Then, at midnight, everybody would scream the countdown together and drink champagne to watch the fireworks show and celebrate the arrival of a new year. She said they ought to kiss at exactly midnight, for a year full of love, and then jump 7 waves, for good luck.

Draco thought the traditions were funny and he wanted to tell that to Harry but the gryffindor immediately offered them to help mrs. Patty around the inn, so before he could start a conversation with Harry they were designed to different areas to help different people. During the whole morning, whenever Malfoy thought he would get to talk to Potter, they were pulled apart again.

“Merlin, this trip really can’t get worse,” he murmured at some point. But he had a smile on that only got bigger whenever his eyes crossed the emerald ones and Harry smiled back at him. It felt like they had a secret. 

After lunch, he finally got a hold of the brunette and they went for a walk down the beach, closer to the streets because mrs. Patty said they should get to the party early so they could get the good champagne. He had rehearsed what he wanted to say in his mind a thousand times, but now that they were alone, walking barefoot on the sand, so close to each other that their hands occasionally skimmed, Draco seemed to have forgotten how to speak. He didn’t understand why he was so nervous. He had convinced himself to trust he was right about Harry having a crush on him and take the risk of taking the first step. Potter took the bait, he responded to him, which means, thank Merlin, he was right. So everything was going to be okay now.

“Look, a tortoise” The gryffindor said excitedly, pointing to some bushes. This time Malfoy couldn’t take a closer look to be sure, but he suspected this was really a tortoise. He laughed.

“You’re out of this world, Potter.”

“I think it’s a sign.”

“Of what?”

“Good luck, perhaps.”

“What makes you say that?”

The gryffindor shrugged “I like tortoises.”

“Alright then. What will you do with your recently achieved luck?”

“Kiss you at midnight,” he answered with a smirk. Draco stayed one step behind, digesting the flirt. Harry turned to him to add: “The luck is you kissing me back.”

“I think you can count on that”

The party was bigger than the boys had imagined. The music started as soon as the sun set, artist after artist got up on the stage to cheer the crow with popular songs everybody sang along. On the sand, every inn set a table with their food and every couple or group of friends grabbed a bottle of champagne. Families sat on the sand a little away from the fuzz to eat and celebrate together. Kids were, as usual, running around, and everywhere they looked there was somebody smiling to that small device Draco knew was used to contact someone. People didn’t stop screaming “Feliz ano novo” even though it wasn’t a new year yet.

They walked around for awhile, sharing their champagne bottle and dancing when a song they liked came around. They even came across Denise who was way past drunk and didn’t even recognise them, but her husband kindly wished them a happy new year. They kept walking, not even feeling as time went by, trying to find a quiet part of the beach to sit down and rest, but there was just no such thing as a quiet part of the beach tonight. So they went closer to the water, where there weren’t as many people and stopped to admire the moon’s reflection on the water. They were talking about their plans for the next year and Harry had just said that maybe, someday, they could come back to Brazil to enjoy it once again.

“Do you think we could keep in touch?”

Harry opened his mouth to answer that _yes, of course_ , but in that exact moment an owl flew above them. Harry recognized it as being the Weasley’s, it then let a letter fall on him and landed on a big rock close by. 

“It’s from Hermione,” he said, opening it.

_Harry,_

_Great news! The chief of the Portkey Department floo called me to say someone cancelled their portkey, so they’ll send it to you. If my math is correct, it’ll get to you in about one hour after my letter. Unfortunately, you’ll arrive at the Romania’s Ministry but it’ll be easy to apparate here from there. I suppose Malfoy will be okay to find his final destination too._

_See you soon!_

_Hermione Granger_

Draco stared at the emerald eyes for a moment after Potter finished reading the letter out loud. The slytherin was glad not to find excitement in his voice, as he was not quite happy about the news himself. Of course he wanted to get to Romania, but couldn’t it be after New Years now? They’ve been through so much trouble already, they kind needed the party - and the excuse to kiss at midnight. 

“You know,” Harry started, “I don’t actually want to go.”

“Me neither” Draco smiled.

“What if we skip it?”

The idea was really tempting, but Draco had to be rational and think about his job “I can’t.”

Harry sighed “Yea, okay. We should go pack then, and get ready.”

“Yea.”

But they didn’t move. Their eyes still locked, the desire so clear in them. 

“You know what?” Malfoy pulled Potter closer by his waist, “It’s already midnight in England.” 

And so they kissed. As if it was the last thing they’d ever do. Desperate, deep and passionate. Harry ran his hand to Draco’s neck to guide him closer and be able to explore everything he was giving him. They couldn’t hear anything around them anymore but it felt like fireworks were exploding inside their hearts. Harry’s fingers left a line of fire through Draco’s body, and he felt so lucky when he noticed the gryffindor’s smile on his lips.

“Jabutis não sabem nadar,” Harry said when they got apart to catch their breaths.

“What? What does that mean?”

“I won’t tell you. You should learn portuguese.”

Draco rolled his eyes, a smile trying to form on his lips.

“Hey, you lost the bet, by the way.” 

Malfoy sighed. They were having this great moment and the bastard thought it was a good time to play the bad winner. “Whatever. What do you want as payment?”

But Harry just smiled wider and kissed him again. 


End file.
